


Impromptu

by LeaOotori



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Court Sorcerer Merlin (Merlin), Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Thinly Veiled Sexual Innuendos, mentions of Gwaine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-29
Updated: 2019-08-29
Packaged: 2020-09-29 22:46:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20443814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeaOotori/pseuds/LeaOotori
Summary: “I’m going to make you regret that,” Arthur mumbled, though there was no real malice to the words.“Hmm,” the sorcerer replied with a smirk. “That’s what you said last night,sire, and I must say that I’m not regretting much of anything at all.”Narrowed blue eyes peaked over a particularly fluffy cushion. “Your limp says otherwise.”





	Impromptu

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Should I be working on my WIP Merlin fic? Most definitely. Am I? No, because these plot bunnies keep bothering me and I need to get them out before they die. For anyone who read my other fic "i love you" recently and was angry at me for making it an angst fest, I hope you enjoy the fruit of my much-improved mood. :) This is pure fluff and more in line with my fics Last Line of Defense/Wingman of the Century. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy this! See you at the bottom :)

Thirty minutes ago, Merlin had been admiring the soft morning light settling across Arthur’s features, thinking it rather adorable that he was too sleepy and tired to wake. 

Now, however, his patience was quickly running out. “For the Gods’ sake, Arthur!” Merlin groaned, fisting his hands on hips. “You need to get up.” 

The blond remained stubbornly cocooned in his blankets, not moving an inch. “I think I’m the one the gives orders around here,” the King mumbled into his pillow, words still slightly slurred from the vicious hangover he was no doubt harboring after a drinking contest the night before to prove his manliness to Gwaine. Needless to say, there was nobody who could beat Gwaine in any drinking contest. Hopefully, Arthur wouldn’t remember his embarrassing defeat, or he’d never leave his chambers again. 

“You won’t be giving _ any _orders if you don’t get up.” 

“What that a threat, _ Mer _lin?”

“No,” the warlock said defensively. “It was a strong suggestion.” He had already been dressed for nearly ten minutes, pacing across the room anxiously. 

“I’m going to make you regret that,” Arthur mumbled, though there was no real malice to the words. 

“Hmm,” the sorcerer replied with a smirk. “That’s what you said last night, _ sire, _ and I must say that I’m not regretting much of anything at all.” 

Narrowed blue eyes peaked over a particularly fluffy cushion. “Your limp says otherwise.”

As intrepid as Merlin was attempting to be, the observation made his face heat up. “I’m not limping,” he insisted in the face of obvious evidence to the contrary.

“Just admit you’re a depraved little masochist already,” Arthur laughed with a devilish smile, eyes glinting dangerously. 

Merlin had to try his hardest to keep the husky tone of the King’s voice from playing over and over in his brain. “Oh, be quiet!” His voice came out embarrassingly high-pitched. “The Court is going to be waiting for us! We’re _ always _late!”

“So it won’t be anything out of the ordinary,” Arthur pointed out, reasoning annoyingly solid even in his residual inebriation. 

“It doesn’t matter if it’s _ ordinary _ ,” the warlock sighed again, surely using up all the oxygen in the room at this rate. “Every time we walk in there, they stare and snicker like they were casting bets on why we were late _ this _time.” 

“Elyan _ did _say he made a good buck off of last week’s Council meeting,” Arthur offered unhelpfully. 

Poor Merlin dropped his head into his hands before sitting down heavily on one of the chairs at the foot of the bed. “Ow,” he hissed at the pain in his backside, jolting up, colorful curses spelling under his breath. “Look what you’ve done, you giant dollophead!”

“Emphasis on _ giant _ ,” Arthur laughed maniacally from where he had wrapped himself in enough linens that he looked rather like what Merlin would describe as a _ maggot _ . _ Cheeky prat. _

“I’m going to kill you.” 

“You’re too infatuated with me, O Great Emrys.” Arthur wasn’t even sleepy anymore, he was just being unfairly stubborn for the fun of it. 

“Can you _ please _ just get up? I don’t need another old-fashioned noble glaring at me and asking me how the Court Sorcerer enchanted their _ Golden _King,” Merlin crossed his arms. “And besides, you owe me.”

“For what?!”

“I’m in _ pain _,” the warlock whined, pouting in a way that was too adorable for Arthur to take him seriously. 

“You _ instigated _ me,” the blonde argued before smiling predatorily. “And by all means, allow me to make it up to you. The throne room chairs aren’t kind after all.” In a clumsy action to free his wrapped arms, he gesticulated towards the empty space on the bed. “May I suggest… an _ alternative _?”

“You horny bastard.”

“Ex_ cuse _ me? Me? _ Me _ , King Arthur _ Pendragon _?” the mock offense on the blonde’s face nearly broke Merlin’s stern glare. 

“Oh, lord and mighty Arthur _ Pendragon _with his title and fancy two names,” the brunet rolled his eyes. “You’re definitely drunk still. Gwaine must’ve given you something strong.” 

The King’s countenance slid into something akin to thoughtfulness. “You don’t have a surname, do you?”

“You’ve known me for _ ten _years, Arthur,” Merlin groaned, exasperated. “Thanks for noticing.” His eyes darted gold for a second, sending a pillow from the end of the bed hurling at the King’s head, which he caught easily.

“You have to try harder than that,” Arthur teased, throwing the pillow back at his lover, who batted it onto the floor without even blinking. Even if Merlin looked rather annoyed at the moment, Arthur really had to acknowledge the fact that he enjoyed every moment of Merlin’s magic— the golden eyes were just too good to resist. Averting his gaze from those beautiful, powerful eyes, the King sat back, pulling his arms into the blankets again. “Besides, some commoners have second names.”

“Well, I don’t.” The warlock shot back, resignation lacing his tone. He seemed to be seriously contemplating leaving Arthur behind and attending the meeting on his own. 

“That’s too bad,” the blonde continued nonchalantly. “So you’re just _ Merlin _ then, aren’t you?” 

“Only took a decade to learn my name! Don’t want to overuse that little peabrain of yours.” The warlock said snarkily. “And technically, I’m Merlin _ of Ealdor, Court Sorcerer of Camelot. _” 

“The title and village don’t count,” Arthur insisted childishly, slowly gravitating towards the end of the bed and out of his blanket cocoon. _ Perhaps I can lure him out to the Council by distracting him like this, _Merlin considered.

“Fine,” the warlock agreed. “Then just Merlin.” 

The King pouted mockingly. “That’s quite sad, isn’t it? Merely one name.” 

“Oh, dear me,” Merlin said with a roll of his eyes. “What will I ever do without an overabundance of every given thing like a pompous nobleman? Will I _ ever _survive the winter without a surname?” He caught Arthur’s unimpressed look and gave a cheeky grin in response. “Unless you’re going to rename me or something, I think we’ve done enough dallying around. Any longer and the Council may just congregate in our chambers instead of the throne room.” 

Like the good king he was, Arthur finally stood up, blankets falling in uneven wrinkled rings around him. “Fine,” he grumbled, raising one muscled arm to rake a hand through his hair. Stubbornly, Merlin tried to keep his eyes from wandering below Arthur’s face, but it was proving difficult. _ Shameless tease. _

Arthur overstepped the linens to the clothes draped against the wall. “Well, get to it Merlin,” he said, face just barely serious. “If you’re in such a hurry, go ahead and dress me. We don’t have all day.” 

Merlin sighed again, but didn’t argue this time (if you were to ignore the annoyed grumbling). Dressing Arthur, among other things, remained a task that the warlock rarely allowed anyone else to ever do. It provoked such dark jealousy in him the one time he had to witness George doing it that he had come up with preposterous reasons that Arthur easily saw through to continue that specific aspect of his duties. Court Sorcerer or not, there were some things he couldn’t give up. 

Hiding his smile, Merlin made his way across the room, trying not to linger on doing up laces upon laces with practiced fingers. It was therapeutic, almost cathartic—

“_ Can _I rename you?” 

“_ What _?!”

“I thought with those gargantuan ears of yours you would be able to hear that,” Arthur snickered. “I asked, can I rename you?”

“What does that even _ mean? _”

“You said that “unless I was renaming you”, we should get going. So does that mean renaming you is an option?” 

_ Is it possible that Gwaine really gave him something that strong? He’s delusional! _“Why are you so fixated on this?” Merlin asked instead. 

“Well, Merlin just sounds rather sad,” Arthur replied with a shrug that messed up a row of laces. 

“My name isn’t _ sad _,” the warlock hissed angrily, using magic in a flick of a finger to undo the loose laces. “My mother chose my namesake.It was a bird my father loved.” 

“I’m not saying “_ Merlin _ ” is a sad name,” the blonde interrupted. “Just… the _ rest _ of your name.”

“The rest of the name that you _ oh-so-kindly _ pointed out _ didn’t exist _not so long ago?”

“Exactly.”

Merlin finished his work, stepping back and spinning around his lover with hands on his broad shoulders. “What, are you going to make up a surname for me?” He asked, laughing. 

Arthur’s soulful eyes seemed to look right through him, the distance between the two of them getting smaller with every instant. Done up in his royal attire, he looked larger than life, but those eyes always seemed to anchor Merlin down. He was stuck to the spot where he stood, not daring to move an inch and quickly forgetting that he had been the one insisting on leaving to the meeting as soon as possible. 

All he wanted was to be there, in that moment, watching the newborn sunlight reflect across the stained glass of Arthur’s eyes, casting golden shadows in his hair. 

There was barely an inch between them. Merlin reached up to grip at Arthur’s shoulder, the fine fabric crumpling under his white-knuckled grip. A broad, calloused hand found a home on the warlock’s waist. “I don’t need to make up a second name for you,” Arthur whispered, warm breath ghosting over the brunet’s lips. The feeling was pleasant and Merlin barely noticed his eyes slide shut. “You can have mine.” 

Merlin startled, eyes popping up in surprise. “_ Huh? _”

“I. Oh. I mean--_ ” _

“Did you just—”

“Oh— oh dear lord—”

“You’re still drunk,” Merlin insisted, voice trembling, taking the smallest step back. Arthur’s hand fell away from his side, the vestige of warmth making the warlock feel colder than he had before. “You didn’t just—“ he reached up to card a shaking hand through his hair. “Did you just— _ propose _ to me??”

“Maybe!?” Arthur replied, panic pacing his tone, fingers bunching up the excess fabric of his tunic like he did whenever he had a terrible case of his nerves. “Maybe?”

“_ Maybe?!” _ Merlin repeated incredulously. “What does that even _ mean _?” 

“It means that it depends on what you answer would be!” Arthur said, throwing his hands up and looking suspiciously like he was about to test the trajectory of jumping out of the window. 

Merlin was not to be outdone. “Well _ that _ depends on whether or not you’re _ actually _ asking,” he replied, crossing his arms. 

The blonde mirrored his lover’s pose, looking impossibly broader as he stared the warlock down with annoyance written clearly across his features. “God_ damnit _ Merlin.” 

“Hey,” The brunet mumbled, failing at keeping a soft smile from creeping onto his face. “That’s Merlin _ Pendragon _to you.” 

Arthur’s beautiful eyes widened as if on cue, mouth working in the empty air. “So it _ is _a yes,” he said, words coming out breathy and in utter disbelief as he stepped closer, closer to his lover again. 

“Of _ course _it’s a yes, cabbagehead,” the warlock laughed, voice betraying the fine sheen of tears already glazing over his eyes. “I could never say no to you.” 

“I’ll make sure to take advantage of that whenever given the opportunity,” Arthur teased, stepping closer as his hands drifted up to cup the brunet’s face. He traced the corner of one of Merlin’s eyes, catching a beading tear before it fell. “Stop being such a _ girl _, Merlin.” 

“That’s no way to talk to your fiancé,” the maddening man laughed, closing his eyes and connecting his lips to Arthur’s before either one could get out one more infuriating word. Arms wound around the blonde’s neck, Merlin felt his knees grow weak. Somehow, no matter how many times he’d kissed those lips, each time was a new rush. 

It ended too quickly. Merlin rested his forehead against Arthur’s revelling in the other man’s quiet comforting heat. “You’re sure you’re not drunk, right?”

Arthur chuckled softly. “If it helps you sleep at night, I’ll propose again tomorrow. And the day after. And after that too.” The smile on his face was the softest, the purest, the happiest that Merlin had ever seen. 

Merlin could not find a single word to say. Instead, he just stayed close, trying not to give up and cry like he desperately needed to. Strong arms around his waist kept his legs from giving out entirely, a giddy adrenaline rush coursing through his veins. Finally swallowing the tears, he opened his eyes to see Arthur watching him with pure reverence, making Merlin’s heart swell imperceptibly. “So,” he began, voice intimately quiet. “I guess this means we aren’t going to the Council meeting today, are we?” 

A wicked smile crept onto the King’s features as his hands drifted lower down Merlin’s prone back, eliciting a shiver. “I would think not.” 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> This was entirely typed on my phone at midnight (what's new?) so make sure to point out any mistakes you find! Constructive criticism is definitely accepted and encouraged! All that aside~~ 
> 
> What did you guys think? I hope you enjoyed it! I just needed a little bit of Merthur fluff in my life. :) All comments and kudos are greatly appreciated and I greatly enjoy reading and responding to every single one, even if they're just a mess of random letters or emojis. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed!!!! Check out my other Merthur fics, have a great day, and thanks for reading!! <3 <3


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